Methods and devices for deploying a film of an oleophilic material on a body of water to contain an oil spill are disclosed in the following references.
Herkenberg—U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,325 discloses deploying non-fibrous, oleophilic films from a dispenser roll. The film is paid out from the outside of the roll and passes through a guide loop. The film forms a helical structure on a body of water.
Reynolds et al.—U.S. Pat. No. 7,828,494 B1 disclose a buoy assembly. The assembly includes a rigid body and mounting assembly for supporting a roll of an oleophilic film, such as polyethylene. The film is paid out from the outside of the roll through an aperture in the body, which is intended to twist the deployed length of film into a helical configuration. Multiple buoys can be arranged side-by-side, with each buoy paying out a length of film, to improve coverage.
Hill—U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0163915 A1 discloses a dispenser for a polyethylene film for containing oil spills. The dispenser has a rear wall for supporting the roll and a front wall having an aperture. The film is paid out from the outside of the roll through the aperture, thereby forming a helically twisted “rope” of film.
Despite the prior art methods and devices, there remains a need for a method of deploying a boom that can employ a wide variety of types of materials and constructions, that can deploy multiple materials from multiple rolls in parallel, whereby the materials are integrated into a single boom, that can prevent the boom from self-wringing when it is stretched, and that does not require a rigid support structure for the roll of material. The foregoing shortcomings are overcome and numerous other advantages are provided by the present invention.